1520 RUSSIA - Fight with the bear

Custom to arrange fighting of a man with a bear was known in medieval Russia as a "bear fun". Such funs were represented on frescos of the Kiev-Sofia cathedral (1037). In old manuscript by Daniil Zatochnik the author, listing different sorts of funs wrote about fighting with wild animals. The plot of a fighting of person and bear is met on medieval Russian coins and seals. Two variants of duels of an armed man with a bear practiced. In first of them a single combat was absolute, in other - a fighter if he was threatened with obvious danger, was insured by other hunters with pitchforks. In single combat of the unarmed man with a bear used with specially trained animals. Alongside with bear fight down to the end of 1920-s there was in many places a hunt for bear with very primitive weapon that was called rogatina - a wood pitchfork. The postcard is a reproduction of the painting Fight with the bear, by V. Nagornova (oil on canvas, 2013).

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series History of Russian Customs Service, issued on September 25, 2002:
• Customs Castle and bourse in Archangelsk (2.00 RUB)
• Customs Officers in St Petersburg (3.00 RUB) - It's on the postcard (inclusive the vignete)
• Kalanchovsky Customs warehouse in Kalanchovsky Square (5.00 RUB)

The second stamp is part of a series issued on January 27, 2004, to mark the 125th birth anniversary of the Russian writer Pavel Bazhov (1879-1950). the three stamps depicts the illustrations for Urals Tales by Pavel Bazhov:
• The Stone Flower: Danilo-the-Master and Mistress of the Cooper Mountain (2 RUB)
• The Malachite Casket: Mistress of the Cooper Mountain and Tanyushka (4 RUB)
• Golden Hair: the hunter Ailyp and his ladylove Golden Hair (6 RUB) - It's on the postcard

About the last stamp, issued for Europa Stamps 2014, with the theme Musical instruments - national musical instruments, I wrote here.

References
Russian bear fight - Russian Crafts

Sender: Maria / karelka (postcrossing) RU-3583464
Sent from Moskow (Moskow / Russia), on 31.03.2015